Zen Studios has added even more options to its popular Pinball FX3 game with two classic tables from the Williams catalog with Monster Bash and The Creature From The Black Lagoon. As expected, Zen Studios has done a fantastic job in both new tables, especially in recapturing the nostalgic feeling of the original machines.
True To The Classics
Unlike other tables that are licensed and created solely to exist as a digital experience in Pinball FX3, these remakes of classic Williams’ pinball machines combine both a strong faithfulness to the original games from decades past and benefit from graphical upgrades. The Creature From the Black Lagoon was first released as a pinball machine in 1992 and used a simple hologram for the Creature, whereas now as with most Pinball FX3 tables, we are provided a far more interactive and cinematic experience with an animated body that pops itself up from the lagoon before diving back and again appearing like a hologram.
While these remakes look and play well, pinball fans of the original hardware will enjoy the second option that makes the game appear exactly as it did upon release. This setting tones down the colors, lights, and LCD scoreboard, and brings it into line with a real machine. Whether one has played the original tables or not, this option is a fantastic way to experience the game as it was first envisioned and points to a high level of polish that is not necessary, but now feels standard in the tables released by Zen Studios.
Lookin' Good
Monster Bash especially benefits from the updated graphics and lighting, because while the theme is based in Halloween and the classic monsters of cinema, the colors are bright and well done. This may be one of the best-looking tables in the entire catalog of Pinball FX3, but this reviewer may simply be nostalgic and a lover of all things Halloween. Still, there is no arguing that the table is great on its own and fantastic as an updated remake of the original.
Fans of multi-ball play will be happy to see that the major scoring happens in that mode of play, which rewards a strategy of not only activating, but efficiently managing a hectic table. The controls remain solid, as with all of the tables by Zen Studios.
As Good As Expected
For this reviewer, there was no doubt that Zen Studios would release a high-quality product, and this is great to see for several reasons. Like their last release on the Nintendo Switch, the formidable and also fantastic Star Wars Pinball, a younger generation has the opportunity to experience the magic that once was pinball gaming. 1975 was when some of the earliest modern solid-state electronic pinball machines were built, and the popularity of physical machines has gone up and down in the past four decades.
Now, as video arcades and well-kept physical machines are harder to come by, modern gaming allows for players to play on the go with the Nintendo Switch. Zen Studios continues to release pinball tables that are great for newcomers and a welcome sight to veterans alike.
Now, if only Zen Studios would port over their entire Marvel collection to the Switch, it would be the perfect way to play digital pinball.
A Switch review code of Pinball FX3 Universal Monsters Pack was provided to TheGamer for this review. Pinball FX3 Universal Monsters Pack is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam. Mobile users can play through the Williams Pinball app for iOS and Google Play.
Pinball FX3